A few months ago I stumbled onto a pic of barrel grip jig saws. Instantly I thought it was a great idea, but wasnt sure if I was ready to throw down that much money just yet. So after a few days I thought I would cut the handle off 1 of my cheap old spares, and sure enough I was all in.
fast forward a couple months and I still hadn’t purchased a real 1 yet. Then 1 day I stumbled onto a convertable version from craftsman, I dont normally pay much attention to craftsman but I knew this was the one for me.
$80 later I found one locally and rushed out to buy it, that was it, I was in love. These feel so well balanced to me over the top handle units.
Jigsaws are one of my least used tools but a must have, I have just a top grip Black and Decker orbital I got on clearance somewhere, works ok for the light use it gets, though I too am curious of others preferences and why.
I got a top-handle cordless Makita BJV180Z as part of a kit – but gave it away.
I’ve thought to add a barrel grip cordless to my M12 lineup – but did not like how the 2445-20 felt in my hands:
I have the Festool Carvex barrel grip but also have the DJV181 Makita (got through a Canadian distributor). I did a couple of videos on the Makita. I love them both, the Carvex is truly a wonderful machine but when I need a quick cut or I’m outdoors the Makita is a great tool to have.
@fred hehe I found this lil gem after googling barrel grip jigsaws… Was on toolmonger…
" fred says:
June 2, 2010 at 6:42 pm
I have been using Bosch barrel grip jigsaws for years and I’m a big fan of what I think is better control. We had several Bosch in-line (body-grip) jig saws too – that are now getting pretty long in the tooth – and are no longer made. They were good for cabinet intallations – reaching in to do outlet cutouts etc. I think that their closest current “cousin” is the Ridgid Fuego inline reciprocating saw – but it lacks the finesse of using jigsaw blades with the older Bosch. I’ve heard some folks say that if you have smaller hands – you might not like a barrel grip saw – but my hands are not overly large and it suits me fine."
